U.S. files new charges against Assange

Assistant AG says WikiLeaks founder is "no journalist"

Eric Tucker, Associated Press

Published
11:22 pm EDT, Thursday, May 23, 2019

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 1, 2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. - US authorities announced 17 new charges against Assange on May 23, 2019. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 1, 2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London, before being sentenced to 50 weeks ... more

Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 1, 2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. - US authorities announced 17 new charges against Assange on May 23, 2019. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images less

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 1, 2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven into Southwark Crown Court in London, before being sentenced to 50 weeks ... more

Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

U.S. files new charges against Assange

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Washington

In a case with significant First Amendment implications, the U.S. filed new charges Thursday against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of violating the Espionage Act by publishing secret documents containing the names of confidential military and diplomatic sources.

The Justice Department's 18-count superseding indictment alleges that Assange directed former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history. It says the WikiLeaks founder, currently in custody in London, damaged national security by publishing documents that harmed the U.S. and its allies and aided its adversaries.

The case comes amid a Justice Department crackdown on national security leaks and raised immediate fear among news media advocates that Assange's actions — including soliciting and publishing classified information — are indistinguishable from what traditional journalists do on a daily basis. Those same concerns led the Obama administration Justice Department to balk at bringing charges for similar conduct.

Assange's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said Thursday that the "unprecedented charges" against his client imperil "all journalists in their endeavor to inform the public about actions that have been taken by the U.S. government."

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press called the case a "dire threat" to media freedom, and the American Civil Liberties Union said it was the first time in history a publisher was charged for disclosing truthful information.

But Justice Department officials sought to make clear that they believed Assange's actions weren't those of a journalist, though they declined to discuss the policy discussions that led to the indictment.

"Julian Assange is no journalist," said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top national security official. "No responsible actor — journalist or otherwise — would purposely publish the names of individuals he or she knew to be confidential human sources in war zones, exposing them to the gravest of dangers."

Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Va., where the case was brought, said Assange was charged with illegally soliciting classified information and not simply publishing it. He said that though the indictment alleges that he published hundreds of thousands of documents, it charges him with disclosing only a "narrow set of documents" related to the identities of confidential sources.

"The indictment alleges that Assange knew that his publication of these sources endangered them," he said.

Prosecutors sought throughout the document to make a distinction between what Assange did as the founder and "public face" of WikiLeaks and the work of journalists.